Clash of the Side-B's!
by Shana Hager
Summary: Which is the better? Choose your side. Winner of pichuplayer's November Contest.
1. In the Beginning

**Hi, all! Here's my entry into pichuplayer's November contest! It's going to be a fun read!**

 **In the Beginning**

The year is 2001. The GameCube is Nintendo's best 3D console. And on that console is that wacky Smash tournament—Melee!

Melee is when the tier wars begin to heat up. It's also where a new special move, the Side-B, is introduced. But this will kick off a conflict like no other…

In this corner, cute and electric as always, is Pikachu. He builds up charge and flies sideways in a flash of lightning, shocking his enemies in every sense of the word. Behold, the Skull Bash!

Now, let's meet the challenger.

The battle is tense. The score is tied. Time is running short. This may go into a Sudden Death. One of the fighters hollers in joy and charges at his opponent, ready to finish him with a final blow. Big mistake. Said opponent, clothed in green, is concentrating hard, focusing his power and energy. He takes a deep breath, crouches, charges in place, and then—he lets go. Fiery orange trails him as he rams himself into the other cocky combatant, sending him soaring into the chasm below—and a bitter defeat. Thus, the Green Missile is born!

Luigi Mario walks the halls of the Smash Mansion with a lighter gait nowadays. He finally stars in his own game and has accrued a small fan base. Sakurai has blessed him with a sleeker, cooler moveset in Melee. He wavedashes like crazy across stages. He pokes straight forward with his palm to deal some serious hurt. And he takes to the sky with the Green Missile, plowing into anyone daring to challenge its power.

He loves his Green Missile, especially when it misfires. He loves it to the point of spamming it, plunging people over and over to their doom.

Pikachu sees this, and he's not amused. Neither is his pre-evolved form, Pichu. Luigi's acting like he has the coolest move in the roster, but it's obvious that it's just a remixed version of _his_ move! Pikachu feels something foul stew inside him. One day, as Luigi passes by following a tough bout, the electric mouse can't take anymore. He cups his hands to his mouth and hollers at the top of his voice, "PIKA!"

Luigi turns. "Excuse me?"

"Pika, pika. Pika, pika, pika, pika!"

The green plumber's eyes widen. "You're calling me a copycat?!"

"Pika, pika, pika, pika, pika, pika! Pika, pi, pi, pika, pika, pi!"

"A—a carbon copy of Skull Bash, you say?! Skull Bash is the better move, you say?!" Poor Luigi is offended and hurt. "We'll see about that, Pikachu!"

"Pika, pika!"

"Bring it on, indeed!" And Luigi storms off in a huff.

Thus, a rivalry is born!

 **TBC**

 **Please R &R.**


	2. Gathering Allies

**Gathering Allies**

"Do you think that Green Missile is a carbon copy of Skull Bash?"

This is the question Pichu asks passersby (in his own language) in an attempt to gain support for his evolved form. He also hand-paints signs to boost Pikachu's morale and denounce Luigi as riding a fellow Smasher's coattails to greatness. Pichu is so loyal to Pikachu that an attack against the older mouse is considered an attack on him. He is going to destroy Luigi's little oasis, inside and out.

And so he blindsides an innocent fellow with his million-dollar question. Those who answer "Yes" are beseeched to join in the fight against the Green Missile. Those who don't know are shown comparisons of the two moves and slowly swayed over onto his side. Those who reply "No" and attempt to provide a counterargument are the subject of a literally electrical tirade.

All of the Pokemon quickly rally to their mascot's support. If an Assist Pokemon is summoned against Luigi, then they have a little more—fun—with him than usual, making him easier to defeat. If Luigi summons one, then they make their attacks miss. They sour his victory by pointing out how similar his Side-B is to Pikachu's. And they pass around notes (this is before text-messaging) claiming that Luigi stole Pikachu's thunder (no pun intended) just because he wanted to be different from Mario.

What they don't expect is Luigi fighting back, using similar tactics. Peach leads her Toads in accosting baffled strollers, telling them of the Pokémon's accusations. If they agree, then they do their best to turn them around. If they're neutral, then Peach gives them literature to mull over. If they disagree with what the Pokemon are saying, then Peach invites them for a tea party at their castle, where they are "recruited", so to speak.

If a Poke Ball spawns during a battle, Luigi hurls it off the stage. Anyone summoning a Pokemon in battle is the recipient of a memorable beatdown. He draws his own artwork, accentuating the differences of Green Missile from Skull Bash. And of course, Mario has his unique methods of persuading people to take back whatever unkind things they say about his baby bro.

"How's it going, L? What's it like, shooting up the tier list on someone else's ingenuity?" ask Pikachu's supporters. Luigi walks right on by, but the words still get to him. He hacks at a Sandbag in his spare time, pretending it's Charizard, Ivysaur or one of those two electric mice. And he poses a question: What's the big idea about his Green Missile in the first place?!

So, here's where things stand now…

Team Pikachu consists of Pichu, the Pokemon, the Koopa King (just because), Ganondorf and Marth (because he's an arrogant prince, duh).

Team Luigi consists of Mario, Peach, Yoshi, DK, Kirby, Link, Young Link, Samus, Zelda and Dr. Mario.

Ness, Ice Climbers and everyone else are neutral or don't want to be involved.

Let the battle begin!


	3. Skirmishes

**Skirmishes**

"Pikachu, what do you have against me? Why are you doing this?"

"Pika, pika, pika!"

Luigi reddens. "I'm not trying to steal from you! And besides, it was Sakurai's idea!"

"Pichu! Pichu, Pichu!"

"How do you know that?"

This has been going on for quite a while. Luigi wants to understand why this is happening—yet Pikachu remains adamant that the Green Missile is lathering, rinsing and repeating Skull Bash. Luigi is correct that Sakurai suggested something cool for his Side-B, and propelling yourself like a rocket is pretty cool. He points out that his move does not involve electricity, and it can misfire and cause more damage, whereas Skull Bash cannot. Pikachu fires right back, claiming that he thought of the idea first. And Pichu, the right-hand man, has done everything he could to back this up.

Luigi is tired of trying to placate these mice. "You think your move is more original than mine? Well, guess what? Mine has more power, and I'll prove it!"

"Pika, pika, pika, pika, pika, pi, pi, pi-ka!" Pikachu accepts the challenge.

And then Luigi drops to a crouch, feeling his emotions well up and circulate through his body, giving him the fuel he needs. "This ends here and now!" he shouts as he blasts off.

Pikachu is ready. He launches his Skull Bash, sending him drilling through the air.

They catapult toward each other like two animals in a clash to prove their superiority. White electricity and green fire come together in a dynamic combustion, sending massive shock waves rippling through Subspace. When the maelstrom of light, sound and tremors finally dissipates, the two are left on the ground, dazed, more upset and frustrated with the other than ever.

A stalemate.

Hardly a fortnight later, both sides are diligently churning out propaganda and furiously mudslinging. Accusations of cheating the other day are flung around. And Team Pikachu decides to play a little dirty. Pichu nails mocking signs on Luigi's bedroom door. Pokemon whisper "Copycat, scaredy-cat" in Luigi's ear in passing. It starts spilling over in matches as well, with Pichu, Pikachu, Ganondorf, Koopa and Marth bribing the fight officials to look the other way while they cheat in a match against Luigi. But they forget about Master Hand. Master Hand sees all.

"Want to explain why you landed Luigi in Dr. Mario's office?" he asks.

And every time, they eke out an excuse, wishing to keep this feud under wraps, at least for now. They bring Luigi flowers and goodies to apologize and swear never to do it again, a promise they promptly break.

Luigi tries hard to hold it together. He really does try. Mario and his pals help him, defending him against the backlash. But they keep going and going, no end in sight. Whilst trying to convince Team Pikachu of Green Missile's uniqueness, he's growing angrier by the second.

Then comes the day when it's clear that other attempts toward peace are futile. Marth travels to his hometown of Altea and obtains a potion from the local apothecary. Knowing its effects, he sends it to Luigi, along with an anonymous letter, claiming that it will help better his side-B if he follows the listed instructions. Luigi is so frazzled that he throws caution to the wind and takes the potion as per the instructions (which are all false, by the way).

All is calm until he arrives for a match against Falco. His stomach is starting to complain, but he shrugs it off as something he ate. He bounds forward at the announcer's signal, and for the first half of the battle, he has the upper hand. But when he starts charging his side-B…

…it all falls apart.

 _ **PFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFTTTTTTTTTTTTT!**_ He is propelled uncontrollably through the air. Falco ducks for cover as his opponent's bowels erupt all over the stage. Luigi's loved ones and friends are horrified. Pikachu and his friends erupt in laughter, with Marth laughing the hardest. Master Hand rushes to the scene as brown continues to shower down, ordering everyone to clear the area and call the hazmat people. Luigi screams miserably as his body continues to empty, his tummy twisting and gurgling the whole time. He hears the laughter like physical blows, and it hurts worse than his current situation.

After what seems like eternity, he drops with a _splat_ onto the puddled stage, feeling mortified and disgusted. The laughter redoubles as he fights back tears. He stands, fists clenching, and stares stonily at the laughing masses.

"Where's your Side-B, now?" crows Ganondorf, and Pikachu, Pichu and Marth shout similar mockery in their own languages.

A primal scream tears its way out of Luigi's lungs. " _ **I HATE YOU!**_ " He interjects before marching away to clean himself up.


	4. Culmination

**Culmination**

Clean and changed, Luigi pounds away at a Sandbag, his rage circulating like a hurricane. Curse Marth Lowell! He can never show his face again, thanks to him! Now, he wants to inflict major pain on Pikachu, and who can blame him? So steeped is he in his thoughts that he doesn't notice the door open.

"Pika."

He whirls, and _there he is_ , standing there with a smug look. That tears it! Next thing he knows, he's on Pikachu, slamming his fist into him over and over, screaming at him the whole time. It's madness and ugliness and insanity, the two of them rolling on the floor, trying to tear each other apart.

And then they're in Master Hand's office, bruised and steaming, as Master Hand lectures them.

"I don't know how this got started, but it ends now. You need to talk to each other. Use our words."

Pikachu turns to Luigi. "Pika-pi," he says, reluctantly admitting that he took it too far.

"Yes, you did."

The two half-heartedly shake hands as Master Hand sternly looks on. After setting out several bottles of bubbly, he locks the two in the office. He tells Crazy Hand that they'll be heavily monitored. If their conflict escalates for any reason, they will be severely punished.

"Shall I say how?" asks Crazy Hand.

"Let them use their imaginations," smirks Master Hand.

 **End?**


End file.
